• German politician Christian Schmidt has resigned as High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina after five years in office.
  • The post of High Representative was created after the 1992-95 Bosnian War to oversee the Dayton Peace Agreement, with powers to impose laws and dismiss officials.
  • Schmidt’s resignation is seen as a politically arranged departure, not a personal decision, after key international actors reassessed their expectations for the role.
  • In Republika Srpska, Schmidt was never accepted as legitimate because his appointment was not confirmed by the UN Security Council.
  • His tenure was marked by sharp divisions: some saw him as a safeguard of stability, others as a foreign overseer without a robust legal mandate.

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